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Welcome All,

If you are here just for the St Patrick’s Day home tour please scroll down past all my yammering. 🙂

If you have been following my mini refresher course on “The Artist Way” then please read on. And, for any newbies, just to let you know what is going on here. I am working my way through this book about allowing ourselves to be more creative. I am covering one small thing from each chapter in each of my posts. My hope is to give you some inspiration and insight into this book. I also wish to cultivate the drive to be more creative, for both you and me.

If you are interested in living a more creative life, I highly recommend getting a copy and working through the whole course yourself. Chapter 1 is about Recovering a Sense of Safety. Chapter 2 covers Recovering a Sence of Identity. And, this week in chapter 3, we tackle Recovering a Sense of Power. In chapter 3 the author Julia Cameron covers a lot of topics including Anger, Synchronicity, and Shame. For my purpose here, I have chosen to focus on the last item, shame.

I was fortunate to grow up in a supportive and creative family. I hope you were too. But even those of us who have a strong support system are susceptible to shaming. Anyone who has put themselves out there, even a little bit, probably knows what I am talking about. Speaking from my own experience there is nothing that strips me of my creative “power” and energy quite as quickly, as a comment, that at its core says, “how dare you?” “How dare you make that awful thing. It is ugly. It is cheap. It is_______. The list goes on. People are remarkably “creative” in their criticism. The underlying message is always “shame on you for making that, posting that, saying that, being that.”

Julia’s contention is, that many of these “critics,” are in fact blocked creatives themselves. (ie: people who want to be creative, but don’t allow themselves to create and, are therefore more critical of others who do.) I would tend to agree. In my own experience, I have noticed a remarkable similarity in the people who leave disparaging comments. First of all, they rarely have a human picture. Often, they do not have a trackback link. If they do have a link on Youtube, these naysayers, do not have any of their own videos posted for someone else’s scrutiny. The links on my blog do not link back to someone else’s writing. And, on HomeTalk where my projects have received the most attention and also the most criticism, not once has that critical comment linked back to a person with any of their own projects posted for the world to examine. They are in effect all cowardly criticizers.

Still, the fact remains, that every one of these mean and critical comments stings. I wish that it weren’t so. I wish I could truly ignore the faceless angry avatars. But I think it is only human to feel the criticism when you read or hear it. It helps a little bit to remind myself that maybe they are blocked creatives. Actually, I should feel some compassion for them. I do believe that people who choose to anonymously criticize and shame others for their work are not very happy people. After all, using our creative gifts is one of the surest ways I know to bring joy. Making something whether it is good or bad, allows us to express ourselves in a way that words can not. In a way it allows us to transcend ourselves. When we allow ourselves to create we grow, and we all know what the opposite of growth is, withering.

In this section on shaming Julia talks about how many creative people work on a project feverishly and then near the projects completion they feel the work no longer has value or purpose. She writes:

“To therapists, this surge of sudden disinterest (“It doesn’t matter”) is a routine coping device employed to deny pain and ward off vulnerability.”

This is a feeling that I know well. I have often happily worked on a project for most of the day only to wake the next morning feeling indifferent to the almost completed work. As I reach a project’s conclusion, I tend to be more critical. I see the flaws and shortcomings. But, I have to remind myself that I don’t make things to be perfect. Most of the time I make things to see if I can. Can I make this picture in my head into a real thing? I always hope the things I make will turn out well. Sometimes they do not. I want to believe that while mean comments still hurt, I am beyond letting them stop me, shame me or keep me from creating. But I am still very captive to the fear of vulnerability when I conclude a project for others to scrutinize.

One way the author Julia Cameron suggests combatting criticism is by self-love and self-praise. It might sound a little too selfish to be so self-absorbed, but I think it is appropriate to comfort oneself when one feels wrongly accused or “shamed” for creating something. It is ok to hurt. It is also ok to help ourselves heal.

The point, I believe is, that while we are learning and experimenting and honing our skills we need to protect ourselves from people who would shame us into believing that we should not create. They, of course, will not come right out and say “Shame on you. You should not make things.” Their comments will be perhaps, more subtle or perhaps, less subtle. The point is to recognize these comments for what they are. I believe that at their core these comments come from a place of envy. And the best way to hold onto our creative power is to keep creating. To remind ourselves that we are still learning. That it is ok to make bad art. That we can survive and heal from being criticized. That we can, have, do and will make good art. But only if we keep creating.

I hope you enjoy my trashy home tour.

Happy Upcycling,

Advertising Disclosure: Upcycle Design Lab may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website.